Child caregivers currently have a variety of methods to install child seats in vehicles. For example, toddler child seats often require the vehicle seat belt to be routed through a narrow opening behind the child seat. Also, in order to install the child seat properly, the installer (child caregiver) must put weight into the child seat while tightening the vehicle seat belt. In addition, more and more commonly, automobile manufacturers provide combination shoulder and lap belts in rear seats, which may be equipped with emergency locking retractors and sliding latch plates. These combination shoulder and lap belts require the application of additionally supplied pre-crash positioners (often referred to as locking clips) for installation of child seats. Finally, LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) restraints are mandatory on cars manufactured after September 2002. These anchors and tethers provide a standardized, common method of installing child seats and eliminate the above-described problems with conventional mechanisms to install child seats in vehicles. However, they will not be present in the majority of the existing vehicle fleet for many years. Therefore, there is a need for a simplified mechanism to install a forward-facing child seat in a vehicle.
Reclinable toddler child seats present an additional challenge. Most reclinable toddler child seats sold on the US market cannot be reclined without loosening or removing the vehicle seat belts or LATCH restraint. Thus, there is a need for a forward-facing child seat that can be reclined while the child seat remains secured to the vehicle seat.